Add Information to Record of a Person who served during the Great War on The Wartime Memories Project Website
Add Information to Record of a Person who served during the Great War on The Wartime Memories Project Website
Additions will be checked before being published on the website and where possible will be forwarded to the person who submitted the original entries. Your contact details will not be forwarded, but they can send a reply via this messaging system.
please scroll down to send a message
205159
L/Cpl. John Hamilton
British Army Imperial Camel Corps
from:Dunfermline
My grandfather Jack Hamilton, was an apprentice working at a Dunfermline Bank, he was initially in the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry but was then in the Imperial Camel Corp and was at Gallipoli. He had a camel which he named 'White Lightning', they would race their camels in any quiet periods to ease boredom but he complained his was very slow (it was also coloured black!). He also told me that they would keep 'pet' scorpions in match boxes.
My dad has a book 'roll of honour' from the Commercial Bank of Scotland Ltd (Dunfermline branch) which lists my grandfather as: Hamilton John (L. Cpl. Imperial Camel Corp). He caught dysentry in the great war and nearly died, but for the care of a staff nurse who insisted on him regularly taking Castor oil.
He went back to working in the bank when he returned from the war. He later went to work for the MOD at a dockyard in scotland and was awarded an MBE in 1960 for 'civil services'. My Grandfather survived both wars (in WWII he was in the Home Guard I believe) and died in 1984.